The Hong Kong government says it is planning to axe six now-defunct pro-democracy groups from the city’s societies registry in three months unless they can prove their existence.
The government on Friday gazetted notices to remove close to 300 groups from the societies registry, saying those organisations were believed to “have ceased to exist.”
The list of groups mentioned included pro-democracy party People Power and student activism group Scholarism, as well as four other district-level groups that had once been vocal in the city’s democracy movement.
“Unless the undermentioned societies furnish me with proof of the existence of the societies within three months from the date of this notification, the undermentioned societies shall be removed from the list of Societies,” Assistant Societies Officer Wong Ping-yi of the police force said in the notices.
Scholarism was co-founded in 2011 by student activists including Joshua Wong, who was 15 at the time. The group led large-scale protests the following year against a plan to introduce patriotic education in schools, propelling Wong to become a global face of student activism in Hong Kong.
It announced it would suspend operations in 2016 with its key members, including Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow, forming the now-disbanded party Demosisto shortly afterward.
Joshua Wong was sentenced to four years and eight months for conspiring to subvert state power in the city’s largest national security trial last year. In June this year, he was charged with conspiracy to collude with foreign forces, which is punishable with up to life behind bars. A trial is yet to be scheduled.
People Power, formed in 2011 by ex-lawmakers Raymond Wong and Albert Chan, was considered to be a radical flank of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy camp. The party has been inactive since 2021, after two former leaders, “Fast-Beat” Tam Tak-chi and ex-lawmaker Raymond Chan, were kept in custody over national security allegations.
The duo were charged alongside Joshua Wong in a subversion case, also known as the “Hong Kong 47.” Raymond Chan was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in jail, while Tam was jailed for four years and five months. Raymond Chan is appealing against his conviction and sentence.
The other four groups set to be delisted are Kowloon City Matters, Shatin Community Network, Tin Shui Wai New Force, and Tseung Kwan O Youth Power.
A former Scholarism member, who requested anonymity, told HKFP on Friday that they believed none of the groups were operating.
See also: Over 60 Hong Kong civil society groups disband following the onset of the security law
Beijing inserted national security legislation directly into Hong Kong’s mini-constitution in June 2020 following a year of pro-democracy protests and unrest. It criminalised subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts – broadly defined to include disruption to transport and other infrastructure. The move gave police sweeping new powers and led to hundreds of arrests amid new legal precedents, while dozens of civil society groups disappeared. The authorities say it restored stability and peace to the city, rejecting criticism from trade partners, the UN and NGOs.
